All three were to have light rail but are now scheduled for Bus Rapid Transit, with train-like buses riding on a future rail right-of-way until ridership increases enough to justify switching to rail. A new corridor, from the University of Houston to Greenway Plaza and the Galleria area, will get light rail from the start.

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"None of us had an idea that there was a preference for one route over another," Green said. "We were told the North route was furthest along in planning and everything else."

A second Democratic congressman from Houston, Al Green, said he will reserve comment on the plan until he understands it more fully, but he added, "People are concerned that there may be some plan that is going to develop that would not be consistent with what they perceived it to be when they were casting their votes."

Frank Michel, spokesman for Mayor Bill White, said Metro President and CEO Frank Wilson will travel to Washington next week to brief the area's congressional delegation about the changes.

Defending decisions

White and Metro officials announced the plan Monday, saying it was necessary for the agency to get federal funding to build the lines.

They also announced that two longtime rail skeptics, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, had agreed to help secure $1 billion in federal funds for Metro's plan in the coming decade. Metro would need to raise a matching $1 billion.

State Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said it appears that "the west side of town won out over the right side of town.

"It's disappointing, but it's clear this is not the end of the discussion," he said.

Coleman is scheduled to talk to White, Wilson and Councilwoman Ada Edwards this afternoon, but said he wished that discussion had taken place before the plan was made public.

"I'm disappointed that people don't understand that you have to work a deal with everybody, regardless of the sticks people carry," Coleman said. "I hope that we can get some clarity on what the plan is."

At Metro's monthly meeting Thursday, one public speaker, rail critic Tom Bazan, said the agency should hold another referendum in view of the changes to what voters approved.

Board Chairman David Wolff addressed the issue at the start, saying that although some people think the agency has moved backward, "all those who are thoroughly familiar with this plan know it is a tremendous step forward.

"Some people feel we have compromised some lines, but my understanding is that if you never had it in the first place, you never gave it up," Wolff said.

Metro provided letters dated April 25 from the Federal Transit Administration advising the agency that its light rail plans for the North and Southeast corridors had been rated "medium-low" for cost-effectiveness.

'Miscommunication'

In general, the letters said, funding is recommended for projects that rate medium or higher.

Gene Green said Metro "should have been giving us that same information, and maybe we wouldn't have had this miscommunication."

Since voters created it in 1978, Metro has had the power to issue bonds with voter approval. The 2003 transit referendum that called for light rail also authorized the agency to issue $640 million in bonds backed by its 1-cent sales tax.

The board did not vote Thursday to issue bonds — only to adopt the policy change, which also includes authority to issue short-term debt in the form of commercial paper.